Sakura's Harem
by Istoria
Summary: Infiltration and deception is central to being a good ninja. But when Team 7 has to embed itself in a society ruled by women, they're all in for a wild ride.
1. Chapter 1 : These are my

Chapter 1 

Haruno Sakura ran down the street mentally admonishing herself for being so late. But it was worth it. She spent an extra hour in the tub today, using the special shampoo from the Earth Country Import Store (which she used most of her savings to buy) and the soap she brought back from the Water Country (that she had saved just for such an occasion). She wanted things to be perfect because today was going to be the day she was going to ask Sasuke out after practice and he was going to say yes. 

She knew from the moment she woke up that it was going to be a good day. So armed with her freshly washed hair, slightly perfumed skin, special ninja outfit and just a tad of lipstick on her lips, she bolted down the street with Inner Sakura cheering her on. She slowed down as soon as she neared the normal meeting spot and smoothed her dress out. Once she was sure everything was perfect, she slowly turned the corner and caught a glimpse of her teammates.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan!" Naruto screamed the moment she was within sight. She grimaced a bit at his usual display of affection but decided not to yell at him No reason to mess up a good morning.

"Ohayo Naruto. Ohayo Sasuke-kun," she smiled.

"Eh," he responded.

Sakura smiled for a few seconds and then began to wilt. He obviously wasn't going to say anything about how nice she looked. Didn't he realize how long it took her to look like this?

"You were late today, Sakura-chan," Naruto asked as he bounded up to her. "Did you sleep in? Did your alarm not go off?"

"No," Sakura said, through clenched teeth from the barrage of questions. "I was just taking my time."

"But you were in a rush to get here," he pouted.

"No I wasn't," Sakura argued.

"Yeah you were. I can tell," Naruto continued very proud of himself. "Cause you still got some jam from breakfast on your face."

"Ara?" Sakura said, looking at where he was pointing. She put a hand up to her lips and felt the lipstick brush against her skin. 

"Got it!" Naruto said happily as she pulled her hand away. 

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and she quickly landed a blow on top of his head. She let out a little sigh and turned to try to resume her discussion with Sasuke. But he moved quicker and suddenly grabbed her arm, pulling her down into a crouch with one hand as he retrieved a few kunai with the other.

"What's wrong?" she asked, looking around for any source of battle ki.

Sasuke frowned. "I'm not sure but I think that there are mist ninja nearby."

Sakura's eyes opened wide and she grabbed her own kunai. "How can you tell?" she asked.

"Because," he replied softly, "something around here smells just like Haku did when we fought him and Zabuza."

Sakura gripped her kunai and let the words sink in. After a few seconds, she realized what was going on. The image of Haku taking a bath with the same soap she had used floated through her mind. Hanging her head, she stood up and walked away.

"Now it's gone," Sasuke said puzzled as he stood up.

Sakura sat downwind of him and curled her knees to her head, deciding that maybe she should just avoid trying anything else this morning and wait for the sensei to show up. Of course that wasn't for a couple more hours and just around the time that they were getting hungry, there was the tell-tale pop and puff of smoke.

"Yo," Kakashi said, looking down at them. "Sorry I'm late but I need to save a small child from the raging river."

"LIAR!"

As the last syllable faded from the cool fall air, Kakashi shrugged and joined his two seething students on the ground. Sakura and Naruto glared at him defiantly as he neared them, not for one second believing his excuse for being three hours late. Kakashi shot a look towards the third but as usual the quiet Sasuke refused to participate in the daily flambéing of the sensei.

"We have a mission today," Kakashi said.

"Retrieving a lost dog?" Sakura asked, sarcastically.

"Digging weeds?" Sasuke snorted.

"Cooking ramen?" Naruto said with a hopeful look on his face.

Sakura looked at him with a twitching eyebrow. "When have we ever had a mission like that?"

"Never," Naruto replied. "But you never know."

"Actually, our mission does involve food preparation," Kakashi said. Naruto looked up at him hopefully, Sasuke grunted something and Sakura just closed her eyes. For some reason she had a really bad feeling about this mission.

* * *

Sakura's hands gripped the wooden pole until her knuckles turned white. Her eye brow twitched and her face started to turn red. Inside, Inner Sakura was having a field day running through the list of words that she wasn't allowed to say out loud. Finally, she settled on something to release the bottled up rage.

"FOOD PREPARATION?" she finally yelled. "How does THIS have anything to do with food preparation?" She held up the net, pointing to the unhappy frog that was jumping around at the bottom.

Kakashi looked down at her from behind his book. "It's a specialty and Hokage-sama wants to serve it to his guest from the Water Country."

"You mean they're going to eat them?" Sakura cried.

"Well, not if you keep letting them get away," Kakashi replied, pointing to the ground as the frog jumped away.

Sakura was torn between continuing to be grossed out over the frog eating idea or just going after it so she could finish this job and go back to the village. Her desire to leave the murky swamp area won out and she quickly ran after the frog, trying not to grimace as her feet squished on the muddy ground.

She saw the escaping frog among the blades of grass and slowly approached it, stalking it quietly as Inner Sakura cheered her on. _Okay, grab this one and a few more and we can get out of this nasty place and go back home, ask Sasuke out and have him say yes because this is a good day._

Sakura pounced, landing her net on top of the frog just before it managed to jump into the water. She squealed as she lost her footing and began to pitch towards the water. But at the last second she recovered, sweeping up the net and using one hand to hold it shut.

She looked at the frog. "It IS a good day," she smiled. "Well, for me at least."

"GOT IT!"

Sakura barely had a chance to blink when she felt something barrel into her. She had no hope of maintaining her balance this time and was under water before she realized what happened.

Of course, at the edge was the pond, there wasn't that much water so she just lifted her head up to get air into her lungs again. She slowly stood up and turned around, feeling a mixture of slime, mud and scummy pond water drain down her arms. A horrified looking Naruto was staring at her. Kakashi had put down his book and was looking at her with no emotion. Sasuke had a smirk on his face.

"Sakura-chan, I didn't see you there…" Naruto started. But Sakura didn't move. She just looked down at her clothes and her skin, frozen in shock.

"Sakura, you shouldn't stand in the water like that," Kakashi remarked. "There are leeches in there."

Sakura's eyes blinked as she looked at her sensei with horror. She took a step forward but a combination of mud and pond grass made the ground slippery and she fell backwards, landing on her ass. Before anyone could say anything, the frog she had caught jumped free of her forgotten net and flew up, landing happily on her muck covered pink hair.

* * *

"So you think she's still mad?" Naruto asked as he watched Sakura stomp away. Something came hurtling towards him and landed right on his face.

Kakashi sighed as Naruto pitched backwards, a wad of mud square on his nose. "Ah, I think so. She didn't even ask you out today," he said to Sasuke.

"Aa," Sasuke said, trying not sound too relieved. After what had happened on their mission, he would have been hard pressed to say no. Sure, he hated losing any practice time but it looked like she was having such a rotten day, he didn't want to risk being killed for saying no to anything she requested.

Too bad Sakura couldn't read his mind but at the moment she probably wouldn't have cared. As she walked away, she fought back a stream of tears that she had kept bottled up since the incident at the lake. She looked so horrible and the smell… the smell was the worst of all. The stray dogs in town were bolting in the opposite direction.

Stupid, stupid Naruto. Stupid Kakashi. STUPID SASUKE! They didn't understand why she was so upset. As if telling her that she should just wash it off with some water would make her feel better. They didn't understand anything about women! They were just brutish, ignorant, idiotic... they were just…

"MEN!" she screamed as she threw open the door to her house, letting the words echo for a bit before she realized the house was not empty.

"Oka-san, oto-san," she said seeing them sitting on the sofa with cups of tea. And that's when the last person caught her eye. "HOKAGA-sama!" she squealed, suddenly wishing she was anywhere but here.

"Ah, Sakura-chan," her mother said, quickly standing up. "Why don't you go wash up and join us after. We have to talk about something important."

Sakura nodded dumbly and quickly headed towards the bathroom. She stripped over her clothes and threw them out the window, decided they were a complete loss. She sat down in front of the faucet and filled the bucket with water. As soon as the water was warm enough, she began drenching herself, trying to wash away the grim.

Inside her head, Inner Sakura was near hysterical. _Why is Hokage here? Did he hear about the mission today? Is he upset that there won't be enough frogs for his dinner? Is he going to tell me I can't be a ninja anymore? What if he tells me I can't be on Team 7 ANYMORE??_

Somehow, she managed to pull herself together, grab some clean clothes and make it downstairs before Inner Sakura exploded. She took a seat next to her mother and shook her head when she offered her some tea.

"Sakura," Hokage started. She looked up at him and bit her lip, knowing that if she wasn't careful, she would start begging him to let her stay with her teammates.

"Sakura," he said again. "Do you remember a report you did on the Onnaribisu while you were at the academy?"

Inner Sakura fainted out of disbelief. "Eh… I think so. We were supposed to pick a group in the Fire Country and research them, right?"

"Aa," Hokage said. "It was a very good report. In fact, your sensei suggested it be used as a reference for any mission that required interacting with them."

"Really?" Sakura said, suddenly brightening up considerably. Her mind started to wander as she began to daydream of what award she might get. Maybe they'd have a party in her honor. Maybe a parade. Maybe…

"…the information together as well as you had. We are lucky that we have an expert on the Onnaribisu to use for a mission like this."

"Mission?" she asked, suddenly breaking out of her reverie.

"Yes, Sakura-chan," her mother smiled. "Hokage-sama wants you to help lead this mission. Isn't that wonderful?"

Sakura smiled and nodded but for some reason, she had a very bad feeling about the whole situation. Still, her bad day was over. So nothing else bad could happen right? Right??

* * *

"I still don't get why you can't tell us more," Naruto complained.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulder. "That's how it is sometimes. Sakura believed that you two should wait for some of the information. And I think she's right."

"But if we're rescuing this nobleman's son," Naruto whined, "shouldn't we at least know who's holding him captive?"

Kakashi sighed. "Sometimes, a ninja can't know everything ahead of time. Sometimes, it's for his own good. If Sakura believes that this is true, then we'll have to trust her."

Naruto frowned. He did trust Sakura but it didn't mean that he was satisfied. "Can't we at least know why we have to wear these things?" he asked, motioning to the apparel the three of them were wearing. 

None of them wore any of the normal ninja attire, including their beloved head protectors. The outfit was rather simple, a brown tunic with a rope belt, plain brown pants and simple walking shoes. They were torn and muddied up but for what reason Sakura wouldn't say.

"You can ask her," Kakashi sighed, his face still hidden beneath a mask. "But I don't think she'll tell you."

Naruto frowned and sat on the window's ledge, letting his feet dangle as he continued to mutter unhappy thoughts at being kept in the dark. It wasn't until there was a shriek from the room next door that he stopped.

"NO WAY!" the distinctive feminine voice cried. "I am not wearing this!"

The men assembled in the room kept silent as they listened to Sakura yell at the poor seamstress in there.

"I can't even breathe in this stupid thing! And look at my chest! It's not supposed to do that!"

Kakashi and Naruto slowly leaned towards the door while Sasuke sat back on the wall with a smirk and crossed arms.

"You want me to stuff what??"

The door slammed open and hit Kakashi square on the nose. Sakura shot him a nasty look as she exited and then came face to face with her teammates. "WHAT?" she demanded when they just stared at her.

And who wouldn't stare? There was a Sakura in front of them that they had never seen. The short hair had been picked up minus a few strands that were braided and hung loose. Her arms were wrapped in green fabric to her elbows. Multi-pocketed brown pants hung loosely around her hips with brown boots peeking from under the hems of the pants. But it was obvious that none of them were looking at that part of the costume. The green top she had on was pulled tight around her waist with ribbons in the back and was pushing up her chest so that it push out dangerously close to the top edge.

Naruto stared for a few minutes before falling backwards out of the window, a small stream of blood following him down. Sasuke held a hand up to his nose and mumbled something about going to retrieve the idiot Naruto. Sakura shot a look over to Kakashi and he could only smile from underneath the mask.

* * *

Sakura had managed to get over feeling self conscious of her outfit, mainly because she had ordered them all to walk in front of her so they couldn't see her. That and threatening bodily harm to the first person who looked over their shoulder.

"Ne, Sakura?" Naruto whined from the front.

"What?" she asked.

"How much longer? We've been walking all day!!"

"Just a little bit further," Sakura replied, looking up at the sky to estimate the time they had been walking. In fact, she was certain that they were nearing the borders of the Onnaribisu tribe. 

As if on cue, the group suddenly came to a halt, sensing the approach of several people. From the tangled brush emerged three women, each dressed similarly to Sakura and armed with swords and spears. Sakura realized this was it and quickly pushed to the front of the group. 

"State your name and purpose," one of the women growled.

"I am Sakura of the Maple Tribe. I seek audience with your chieftess, the great Amaya of the Elm."

The women regarded her for a moment before the same women spoke again. "And who are they?" she asked.

Inner Sakura began to cringe. This was it, this was the hardest part. She knew that she couldn't tell Naruto and Sasuke before because they'd never agree to it if the knew. Now, she could only hope Kakashi-sensei could keep them in line.

"These are… ummm…" She paused and took in a deep breath. Inner Sakura came out and started to cheer her on, reminding her that the Hokage himself had asked her to do this. So she squared her shoulders and found her voice again. 

"These are my man slaves."


	2. Chapter 2 : Not all clear beverages are ...

_Author's note : Nothing like getting your tonsils removed to totally kill any creative thought you had. But I've finally slowly got back into the swing of things. Sorry it took a while to update. Thanks for all the great reviews!! I hope you find this next part as entertaining!_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"These are my man slaves."

There was a brief silence as the words hung in the air. Sasuke's eyes slowly lost their color and reverted to white circles as he understood what was going on. Kakashi merely stood still, the briefest of smiles beneath his mask as he watched his two young student's reactions. Naruto's face was puzzled as he digested the words but slowly, the gears in his brain began to click into place and his eyes opened wide.

"AH!!" he cried out. "We're your WHAT?!?!?!"

"They don't seem well trained," the woman in the tree said.

Sakura eyed the other woman, trying to decide what the say. Sure, reading about a culture gave you some perspective on it. But it didn't mean that you knew how to act as one of them. It wasn't like visiting a foreign nation where if you made a mistake it was expect of a foreigner. She wasn't allowed to make mistakes because that risked blowing her cover. And if she knew anything about the Onnaribisu, there were probably at least 4 more patrol groups hiding somewhere in the foliage.

"You don't seem so well trained yourself," she said angrily, completely ignoring Naruto's outburst. "Let alone questioning my ability to train them, you haven't even introduced yourself."

_Please, please, Kakashi-sensei, keep Naruto quiet_, Inner Sakura pleaded. And as if he heard her, Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's arm to steady him.

The other woman stepped forward and Sakura finally had a good look at her. The woman was almost twice her size and glared down at Sakura with contempt in her night black eyes. Her tanned skin was crisscrossed with scars and her purple hair had at least twenty braids handing down. 

Twenty was at least a captain, Sakura calculated mentally. Battle scars definitely meant she was well respected in the tribe. And possibly well known in the culture. But Sakura's information was from her academy days, at least 2 years old. She didn't know who it could be.

"Do I need to introduce myself?" the woman demanded.

Inner Sakura cursed and started to think rapidly. The woman was obviously well known then, but she needed to figure out a way around her lack of information. Outer Sakura struggled to maintain calm, knowing that any break in her appearance would break the illusion. She needed to react fast, her answer needed to come faster.

"I think politeness would require it," Sakura replied, stalling for more time.

The woman glared at her, obviously suspicious. "My name would have reached the Maple tribe."

There it was, Sakura realized. The woman had gone from suspicious to accusing her right out of lying. She needed to think of something soon.

"Your legend has," Sakura said, her face never dropping from its original position. "But the legend said you were at least 10 feet tall and carried a battle axe that reached the sun."

There was a pause and then laughter broke through tension. One of the other women stepped forward and got a grip on her shoulder.

"She's right, Moriko. You know how rumors are."

Inner Sakura let out a breath of relief. Moriko. She had a name. She'd have to gather information but at least the two with Moriko appeared to have accepted the ruse.

"Still seems strange," Moriko said, pushing a stray purple braid behind her ear. "You can't be more then 14 and you have three servants. I know you're not from one of the noble families."

Inner Sakura clapped her hands and rubbed them together. This she was ready for. "They were my older sister's," she said quickly. "At her death, they were transferred to me."

"And why bring them all here?" Moriko demanded.

Inner Sakura cringed a bit and prayed that Kakashi had things under control. "Trading them in for at least one good one."

"She's right, you know," the third woman said. 

"I don't know, Saki, the black haired one is kind is kind of cute."

"Meh, too scrawny Noriko. And the older one is busted up," Saki said pointing at Kakashi. "Only one good eye."

"Yeah, but at least he doesn't look five like the blonde."

Moriko sighed, realizing she wasn't going to get to question the newcomer anymore. "I don't think they're worth much but you're welcome to ask Amaya-sama if you want. Let's go."

Sakura nodded and quickly motioned for the others to follow her, trying to ignore the feeling of several eyes burning through her back.

* * *

They were ushered into guest quarters at a local inn as soon as they made it to the city. Sakura took some of it in, making sure that the maps she had from two years ago were still accurate in her mind. From the little she had seen, it seemed like not much had changed.

The room was relatively small but Sakura had only requisitioned a small amount of money from the town for this mission. There was one large bed and she had to fight the urge to just collapse on it right away. The floors were rough on her feet and on closer inspection she realized it was mostly dirt, just like the walls.

"We'll go deliver your message to Amaya-sama," Moriko said, shutting the door.

The group waited until the last few footsteps echoed out of hearing before they began to speak. Or in Naruto's case, yell. Loudly.

"I'M NOT FIVE!" 

Sakura quickly hushed him. "Be quiet!! You're not supposed to yell!"

"Why not?" he demanded.

"Because…" she paused and tried to think of a way to put it as not to remind him that he was supposed to be a slave. 

"Because otherwise, Sakura will not be able to explain," Kakashi broke in taking a seat on the floor.

"Ah, yeah, explain," Sakura said nervously. "I know that you might not understand why I didn't want to give you the whole story before we set out…"

"You knew we'd say no?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded slightly.

Sasuke turned to Kakashi. "If we're after a nobleman's son and he's here, why not just go in and take him back without doing all this. We'd have no problems using our skills to get past them."

Kakashi looked at him with an uninterested eye before looking to Sakura. "Sakura can tell you why and explain exactly who these people are."

Sakura nodded to Kakashi in thanks. "The Onnaribisu is a society that exists within the Fire country but is essential free from their control. The society is matriarchal, meaning," she continued see the puzzled look on Naruto's face, "that it's run by women.

When the confusion didn't subside, she continued. "The original tribe that they are descended from wanted to set up a free society for everyone but… well, the men were more interested in getting drunk and sleeping all day. So the women got sick of it and sort of tossed them out, setting up rule for themselves. They still needed men but rather then let them become like their predecessors, they instituted a servant class for them. And it worked out pretty well for a while. The society flourished but something prevented them from really growing. The land."

"The land?" Naruto asked.

Sakura nodded and knelt down on the floor. Using her finger, she drew a rough sketch of the Onnaribisu territory. "You see, to the west is a range of mountains that prevents rain from making it here on a regular basis."

"But the area is dense with plant life," Sasuke pointed out.

"Right," she said. "The only source of water is the river that was on the other side of the mountain."

"But there is a river," Naruto said. "We crossed it on the way here."

Sakura nodded. "I said that the river WAS on the other side of the mountain."

Naruto's forehead screwed up in concentration. "They moved it? How do you move a river?"

"You could dig a trench," Sakura started, "but that would take many years, be very dangerous to the workers and there is still no guarantee that you won't run into problems. You could try damning up the river to alter the flow but then that would dry it up on the other side of the mountain and anger who ever was there, causing a war. But if there was a way to somehow alter the way the river works, then everyone could be satisfied.

"Now, you know that there are a lot of jutsu that manipulate the world around us," Sakura continued. "If you could get someone who knew how to manipulate rock, another who could work with water…"

"You could change the course of the river," Naruto exclaimed, feeling very proud for having put it together. 

"Yes but do you remember how chakra works in your body?" Sakura asked him, receiving a small nod in return. "We use our chakra for a variety of jutsu but there's a limit to how much we can use before it's gone. So using it to do something like that is going to take a lot of it."

"So how did they do it?"

"By combining their chakra," Sakura said. "Not by letting one person absorb it to use it, not by having several people cast the same jutsu, but by working together as a team to execute these powerful jutsu that could alter the landscape."

"How can they do that?" Naruto asked.

"We don't know," Sakura replied. "All we do know is that they can and the Hokages have been trying to learn from them for decades."

"So," Kakashi said, suddenly speaking up, "when this mission came up, Hokaga-sama couldn't risk do anything that would offend the Onnaribisu. Sakura was the only one in the village who had enough knowledge of the tribe to possibly pass as one of them."

"Really? How did you do that Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Do you remember when we had to do that report in the academy two years ago?" she asked. Naruto looked at her dumbly. "Do you remember anything we did at the academy?" she grumbled.

"The one thing about the Onnaribisu," Kakashi interrupted, "that stems from their ability to combine chakra is their ability to sense chakra. So any jutsu that we could use would be detected by them and we'd be captured. When our affiliation to the Leaf came to light, it would ruin any chance the Hokage had with them."

"So we had to sneak in," Sakura finished. "And have to work like this rather then just taking the nobleman back. In fact, we're not even sure where he is." 

There was noise from out the window and Sakura quickly ran up to the door, pressing her ear to the door.

"They're coming back," Sakura whispered. "Listen, they'll take you back to the slave quarters and then you have to ask around about the guy we're looking for, Matsui Ichiro. Kakashi will tell you what he looks like. And remember no jutsu!"

There was a loud banging on the door and Sakura flung it open. Moriko looked at her with suspicion before motioning towards the three boys. "All right, Amaya-san's willing to talk to you. We'll store those three in temporary quarters."

Sakura nodded and walked out of the room not even looking at her teammates before disappearing down the hall. Moriko looked at them with contempt before leaving them to the care of her subordinates.

* * *

The slave quarters turned out to be rooms carved in the rock mountain that ran along the village's border. Kakashi put a hand along the walls and shook his head. Not carved by tools but by the same technique they used to reshape the mountain and bring water to their town.

"What do we do now?" Naruto said sulking.

Kakashi sighed and sat on the ground. "We start looking. The boy we're looking for is about seventeen, he has brown eyes and brown hair. He was last seen… wearing a pink frilly tutu." When he got no reaction, Kakashi paused and eyed his two pupils. They were both concentrating on a spot on the ground. "Is there something wrong?"

Naruto looked up and shook his head. "Just thinking. I mean Sakura could've told us what she wanted us to do this. I don't like the idea but it's a job that has to be done."

"Very noble," Kakashi said, not really believing he would have. "And what about you?" he asked Sasuke.

"He's still bitter that he was called scrawny," Naruto smiled.

"I'm NOT scrawny," Sasuke yelled back before regaining his composure. "I mean that's not what I was thinking about."

"Sure," Naruto grinned. "Scrawny."

"Five year old," Sasuke retorted.

"SCARWNY!"

Kakashi sighed and stood up, pulling them apart before a real fight erupted. "Just calm down. We have a job to do."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto sighed. "We get to do all the work while Sakura-chan gets to loaf around."

"Do you really think that's what she's doing?" Kakashi asked. He looked at his two pupils. They didn't agree with him in words but their face said it. Inwardly he shook his head. 

"Hey! Newcomers!" The trio turned and watched as an elderly man walked in. "I am Goro, foreman of this camp. That said, what are you just sitting around for? There's work to do. Let's go."

* * *

Sakura waited in front of the door, trying to quell the butterflies in her stomach. She was alone now, no teammates to back her up. If anything went wrong she'd be toast. The way Moriko looked at her made sure she understood that. The doors swung open and Sakura walked in, taking in the surroundings. 

There were at least a dozen armed guards here, lined up and eyeing the newcomer as she walked towards a large throne covered in darkness. Sakura came about five feet from the chair before stopping and dropping to her knee.

"Sakura of the Maple tribe," a voice boomed through the room. Inner Sakura packed a few bags and prepared to leave. "I am Amaya of the Elm. What is that you want?"

Sakura found her voice somewhere in the bottom of her stomach and managed to croak out a response. "I'm here to trade some of my men."

"From what Moriko tells me, they're not worth much."

"It's true," Sakura started, "they might be whiny, obnoxious, and dense beyond all belief…" She trailed off when she realized she was speaking what she really felt and straying from her script. "I mean, they work hard so they do have some merit."

"Is that so?"

There was a long pause and Sakura kept her head down, looking at the ground. There was movement and Sakura wanted to look up but she knew it would be disrespectful. Suddenly two feet came into her view, two very small feet.

"You can stand."

Sakura very slowly stood on her feet and watched as the leader of legend unfolded in front of her eyes. She had long blond hair that reached the ground and her big brown eyes examined Sakura with curiosity.

Sakura blinked and tried to hide in her surprise. It wasn't the fact that the leader of the Elm was staring at her. It was the fact she had to crane her neck almost vertical to do so.

Apparently the leader of the Elm was a seven year old. 

Inner Sakura balked and began to rummage through all information available to see where it said that a child could run an Onnaribisu tribe.

"Ah... arigato," Sakura quickly recovered.

"It is good to have a sister here," Amaya said. "Especially during this time of year."

"Yes… it is." Inner Sakura had plunged through half her memory and come up with nothing.

"So you will join us for the festival right?"

"Sure," Sakura nodded. Inner Sakura meanwhile cringed while watching the guards. It was a trick right? This little girl couldn't be the real leader could she?

But after a few minutes of listening to her talk about the three slaves, Sakura realized no one was attacking her. Something was very odd here but obviously she couldn't ask outright. It would just take time and investigation.

"So you'll be my special guest tonight," Amaya said taking her hand. "Moriko, I'm going down there early. "

"Of course," Moriko said with a quick nod of her head. Sakura's eye brows furrowed. Did she just see a gleam of contempt in the older woman's eye? But before she could think about it further, she was being dragged across the throne room and outside to the waiting festival.

* * *

"This… sucks…"

Sasuke shot a look over a Naruto, wordlessly agreeing before picking up another fish and slipping his knife into it. He looked over at his sensei and couldn't help but feel a bit scared at the happy look on his face.

"Knife goes in, guts come out," Kakashi sang as he worked through his pile.

"That's it!" Naruto said, slamming the fish onto the table. "It's not fair, sensei! Sakura-chan gets to go to the party and eat good food and have fun and all we get is left over fish guts."

Kakashi paused in his song to throw his student a questioning look. "You think that Sakura is having fun?"

"Who wouldn't be?" Naruto replied. "I can hear the noise from the festival down here."

Kakashi looked around, making sure that Goro was no where in sight before pointing to the window near them. The three of them surrounded it and looked out into the crowd.

The festival was in full swing by now. The last traces of sunlight were disappearing in the horizon and the light from bonfires was providing an alternate source. There were tables of food and several of the women had taken to dancing as the musicians played on.

"Looks like fun to me," Naruto murmured.

But a few moments later, he finally found Sakura. She was sitting in between the fearsome Moriko and a small child. She didn't look very comfortable and she was doing the classic Sakura nervous thing, twiddling her hands as she answered the child.

A man came up to them and handed Sakura a glass of clear liquid. She looked a bit relieved and quickly swallowed the contents. She choked a bit and looked at the glass with surprise.

"Woah, heard the Maple were good drinkers but I never saw anyone take down a whole mug of the shine without blinking." 

The three turned quickly and saw Goro looking out of the window with them. Naruto jumped in surprise and even Kakashi and Sasuke seemed a bit at ease that the other man had snuck up on them.

"Mug of the shine?" Naruto asked. "You mean the water she just had?"

"That was moonshine boy," Goro said. "Best stuff in the valley too. The Elms like to make it strong, not that you'll get to see any of it unless you get your asses back to gutting."

"What's he talking about sensei?" Naruto asked as soon as Goro was gone and they were back to gutting.

Kakashi was frowning as he gutted several fish. After a few minutes he looked over at his students. "Sasuke, go to the kitchen and take a platter of food out to the festival. Make sure Sakura's okay and see…"

"…MY HEART WILL GO ON!!!"

Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi looked at each other. "Was that Sakura singing?" Naruto asked. By then, the other two were already out the window checking it out.

And sure enough, there was the pink haired ninja, standing on top of her chair, belting out lyrics to a song that was not the one that was playing. Moriko looked a bit amused while the young girl next to her was cheering her on.

"Near… far… wherever you are!!!" she yelled, completely out of tune.

"Yo! You three!" The trio turned, preparing to get yelled at by Goro again but instead the man was pointing out the window. "Your master is drunk off her ass. Go take her home before she pukes on our leader."

_Or she breaks her cover_, Sasuke frowned to himself as they moved quickly outside. As soon as Sakura saw them, she didn't stop singing, just started up again loudly and more dramatically, as if she was really trying to put on a show.

Moriko looked at them as they approached her. "Why are you here?" she demanded.

Kakashi quickly answered. "We were told our master was not feeling well."

"She looks fine to me," Moriko smiled. "Now, Sakura-san you were just telling us about your home." Kakashi's demeanor didn't change but he realized the danger. With Sakura like this, would she be able to keep her story straight?

"I am Sakura of the Elm!" The pink haired girl yelled proudly. "I am here to trade in these three whiny, obnoxious, and dense beyond all belief slaves for at least one good one! I only go them 'cause my sister died… my sister died," Sakura suddenly said, her face falling and tears springing to her eyes. "It's so… so sad!" She began to bawl.

Kakashi hide his smile well but was proud. Ninja were trained to keep to their story under any conditions and Sakura was doing just that… in her own unique way. With her a sobbing mess, Moriko couldn't keep up her prodding. In the middle of her bawling she started to tip off the chair and lurched towards the older woman.

"Just take her home," Moriko snapped, obviously annoyed that her suspicions were not proven again.

Sakura pitched forward suddenly and fell towards the ground. But before she hit, Sasuke managed to move and catch her in his arms. She opened her eyes slowly and found herself not plastered to the ground. She looked up with surprise.

"Sasu… *hic* sasu… *hic*," she tried.

Without an annoyed look, Sasuke quickly walked towards the inn with Kakashi and Naruto in tow. Kakashi was laughing silently beneath his mask at the scene, an annoyed Sasuke, a drunken Sakura and Naruto constantly asking Sakura if she was okay and demanding that Sasuke let her go. Somehow, they reached the inn and managed to get up the stairs despite Naruto's threats that he was going to beat Sasuke up if he didn't put Sakura down right away.

"Naruto," Kakashi said finally, "come with me to the kitchen. We need to get a towel, hot water and tea. Sasuke, put her on the bed and make sure she stays on her side."

Naruto grumbled and disappeared with Kakashi, throwing Sasuke a nasty look as he struggled to open the door with Sakura half passed out in his arms. He walked across the room and dropped her on the bed where she quickly sprawled on her back and fell asleep.

Sasuke sighed and picked up her left side, rolling her to the right. As soon as he thought she was steady, he let go and watched as she murmured something and rolled onto her back again. With a frown, he tried again putting his hands on her back to keep her propped up that way.

He heard commotion in the hall as Naruto dropped the hot water on his feet. He was so caught up in listening to the run of curses coming from the fox boy, he forgot to watch Sakura and she quickly rolled onto her back, pinning his hands underneath her.

He blinked in surprise and tried to pull himself free before she noticed. As luck would have it, her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him with surprise, only seeing his arms disappearing towards her back and him leaning forward as he tried to free them.

"Sasuke-kun?" she asked softly. Somewhere, beneath the haze of alcohol, a coherent thought was produced. She was on a bed alone with Sasuke and he was reaching behind her back where her bra buckle was.

Her eyes suddenly shot open. "AAAH! NO, NOT LIKE THIS!" Sakura suddenly began screaming.

Sasuke jumped back, or at least tried to, but his pinned hands kept him in place. 

"I don't want my first time to be here and like this!" Sakura began to cry, tears falling in her eyes.

Sasuke took in what she said and suddenly turned very red. "Sakura, calm down, I'm not…"

"NOT LIKE THIS!"

"Sakura roll over! You're too damn heavy, I can't get my hands free…"

"WAH!! I want my first time to be romantic!!" she cried, ignoring him. 

Sasuke pulled with most of his strength, flipping Sakura onto her stomach and falling backwards. He cursed as he tried to stand up. 

"SASUKE!"

He turned and found a very angry looking Naruto staring at him with a faint red glow forming around his body.

"You bastard! You were trying to take advantage of Sakura-chan!"

"Wait a minute!" Sasuke replied angrily. "She's the one who thought that. I was just trying to get her to stay on her side!"

"LIAR!"

"Just ask her!" 

But Sakura was happily snoring as she lay on her stomach. Naruto looked at Sasuke. "I know how it is! Kakashi-sensei said Sakura-chan is drunk. Now you think you can just…"

"I thought nothing of the sort!" Sasuke yelled. But Naruto just let out a battle cry and launched himself at his rival.

Kakashi walked in with a sigh and moved towards the bed, ignoring the two fighting boys. He poked Sakura until she woke up and handed her the warm wet towel. 

"Would you like some tea?" he asked.

Sakura shook her head. "Kakashi-sensei…"

"Ah?" he replied.

"I think I'm going to be sick."


	3. Chapter 3 : Some days it doesn't pay to ...

Chapter 3 

Some days it didn't pay to even open your eyes. 

It was a simple statement that Sakura had used a couple of times before but had never truly understood it. That was until she cracked open a bloodshot eye and looked out at the sunlight pouring in. 

The sun hit her pupil and in a second a whirl of feelings hit her. Her head felt like there was a fat man sitting on it. Her eyes were as dry as the desert. Her throat felt like a cat had slept there all night. But worst of all was that her stomach was attempting to remove all traces of itself by rushing up her throat.

Kakashi opened an eye from his spot on the chair just in time to see a flash of pink disappear to the nearest bathroom. He waited through the nasty hurling sounds, the flushing and finally the sound of the shower starting before he got up and went to get some water and tea.

By the time he got back there was a pile of sheets and towel on the bed. With a sigh, he used a foot to push the mound and was rewarded with an unhappy groan.

"Five more minutes mom."

"Sakura," Kakashi said firmly, trying to bring her out of her reverie.

There was movement and Sakura peaked from under the covered, wet hair still matted to her face. She eeped at the sight of her sensei and hid again.

"Sakura."

"…hai…" she said softly.

"We need to talk."

There was a pause before the sheets started to shake in disagreement. When Kakashi didn't answer, Sakura appeared again and looked at him with tears in her eyes.

"I know I messed up, it's just…"

"You didn't necessarily… mess up. But there were several things you did wrong, things that I probably should have prepared you for. Like what alcohol is, how to tell if that's what's been given you and how to not drink too much of it…"

"Sensei," Sakura said softly. "I'm never going to touch any more of it." She pulled the blanket down a bit more. "Besides, it's not like I'm 10. I know what alcohol is."

"Oh," Kakashi said, trying to hide the amusement in his voice. "I forgot children where so mature these days."

Sakura rolled her eyes and disappeared under the sheets again. "Can I get a few more minutes of sleep?"

"You have nothing scheduled, so I suppose it will be all right," Kakashi replied. "I, on the other hand, have a date with a fish."

* * *

"So you youngster wouldn't remember what it was like back then," Goro was saying as Naruto and Sasuke tried to keep awake. "We were treated better then. A full meal, with meat, ever night and then dessert under the stars. And the women, they didn't talk down to you like they do now."

Naruto slumped forward and Sasuke quickly elbowed him awake. Naruto snorted and looked up at an annoyed looking Goro. "Errr… sorry."

Goro sighed. "It's just like you young'uns to not listen. Sure, you think you've got it good. A young mistress from a good tribe. But she's here to trade you and the Maple are not as nice as they used to be. It's that damn Moriko making problems again."

"Moriko?" Sasuke asked, suddenly perking up at the familiar name.

"Ah, tall one. Purple hair and a face wrecked by too many battles. What with Amaya-sama almost reaching the end of her reign, Moriko is already trying to gain control."

"The little girl?" Sasuke continued, remembering the girl next to Sakura last night.

"Little?" Goro asked. "Boy, Amaya is going on near 80 years by now."

"EH?" Naruto cried. "But she looks 10!"

Goro looked at them. "You boys aren't homebred, are you?" 

Sasuke moved quickly before Naruto could question the statement. Kakashi had explained some of the culture so that they could handle situations like this. "That's correct," Sasuke replied. "We were taken in a raid a few months back."

"Well, that explains it," Goro replied.

"Explains what?" Naruto asked.

"Well… y'all aren't exactly… normal."

"WHAT?!?!" Naruto yelled.

"Like that," Goro pointed to him. "No self respecting male yells like that. You at least are well behaved," he said to Sasuke, "and… somewhat familiar. Do you have a brother?"

Sasuke didn't respond for a moment. The word brother only brought one thought to his mind. But somehow, for a moment, he managed to look beyond his self-inflicted vendetta to see a possible way to get out of this miserable mission.

"I did. His name was Matsui Ichiro."

Goro paused to think the matter over. Naruto nodded at Sasuke, realizing what he was trying to do. The name of the kidnapped nobleman would surely ring a bell to the foreman of all the slaves.

"Ichiro… Ichiro," Goro cried, tapping a finger to his chin. "AH!" Sasuke and Naruto looked at him with hope in their eyes. "Ichiro… like Goro," Goro smiled. "Means he was the first son. Lucky bastard, I was number 5. Ah… but the five of us were great together…"

Sasuke and Naruto looked at him with panic in their eyes as he started another long drawn out story about the past.

* * *

Sakura stumbled out of the inn and almost felt like hissing at the sun as it hit her. What a miserable day, she thought as she stumbled down the road. Bad enough to wake up feeling like the living dead but she had a distinct feeling that she had done something yesterday that she would regret.

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura paused and looked over her shoulder, watching as the young girl bounded up to her. "Amaya-sama," Sakura said sheepishly with a bow.

"How are you feeling today?"

"Err… okay," Sakura said, really unable to hide the way she felt. 

"You really went wild last night," the small girl smiled. "And you've got a very nice voice, one that I would suspect is even better when you're not intoxicated."

Sakura nodded, trying to bury her face in her hair so the blush wasn't too apparent. Amaya chuckled and skipped ahead. She turned around and motioned for Sakura to follow. Sakura quickened her pace and tried to keep up with the ruler. 

After several minutes of skipping, Amaya took a spot on a log, looking around the center of town. She raised an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder, watching as Sakura slowly trudge to the log. The pink haired girl collapsed on the log and tried to regain her breath.

Amaya giggled. "Sorry, I forget that I can move so quickly again. Just take a moment to catch your breath. I wanted to sit here for a while anyway."

Sakura nodded and leaned back on the log, looking up at the sky. Next to her, she could hear Amaya humming a song as she tapped her feet against the log. That mixed with the slow march of the clouds across the sky made Sakura's eyes begin to droop.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, is your town center as pretty as ours?"

Sakura's eyes blinked feverishly as she tried to regain her composure. "It is special in its own way," she settled on.

"I suppose they all are," Amaya said as she stood up. Sakura rolled over and sat up, watching as Amaya approached a huge maple tree. "I remember when this was just a sapling," she said.

Sakura attempted to hide her surprise. How would Amaya know about when this tree was a sapling? From the way it spread towards the sky, it would have to be many decades old. 

"I'm sorry," Amaya said suddenly. "I shouldn't bother you with things like this on your trip here."

"No, it's okay," Sakura replied, her curiosity perked. "I don't mind at…"

"Amaya-sama."

Sakura and Amaya turned and watched as Moriko came towards them, flanked by two grim looking sentries.

"Is anything wrong?" Amaya asked.

"Your council is needed at the farm site," Moriko replied. 

Amaya nodded. "Sorry, Sakura-chan. Perhaps… another time."

Sakura watched as she left and suddenly felt very uncomfortable under the stare of Moriko. She stood up and started to excuse herself but Moriko beat her to it.

"So, have you found interested parties in those slaves of yours?" Moriko asked.

Sakura froze, resisting the urge to just run away. She turned and stared at the other woman. "Not yet, no."

"Well, Hana here," Moriko began, pointing to the huge woman at her right, "was interested in one."

"Yes, the small black haired one," Hana said with a smile. 

"The one who caught you yesterday at the festival," Moriko continued, a small smile on her face. 

Sakura's lips pursed. What the hell was going on? She barely remembered last night but she did remember something about Sasuke carrying her home.

"For someone who's only had them for a few months, you seemed awfully attached to that one," Moriko continued. "Blushing like a school girl and everything."

Crap, Inner Sakura cried. This is not going anywhere good.

"He's not for trade," Sakura said suddenly.

"I thought that the purpose of your trip was to trade them," Moriko countered. "Unless you're here for another reason."

Sakura's eyes blackened as she stared angrily at Moriko. Suddenly she doubted that Amaya really had to go away. This felt planned and she was being pushed into a corner.

"Of course, there is another way," Hana said suddenly. 

"Ah, yes," Moriko said, not hiding her fake surprise at Hana's suggestion at all. "If you don't want to trade, then Hana could challenge you for ownership of all three of them."

"After all, he does seem so young and sweet," Hana asked, "I can just _ recycle_ the other two."

Inner Sakura found herself doing something she never thought she would. Attempting to convince Outer Sakura from going on a killing spree. 

"And if you're not willing to trade…" Moriko began.

Something tried to explain to Sakura that she should just give up now. At worse, Sasuke would be in the employ of some other woman for a few days before they slipped out of here with the noble man's son in tow. But whatever logic was in her was wiped out by the single thought.

This bitch is not going to take Sasuke-kun away from me.

"Challenge accepted," Sakura said.

"Two hours," was Moriko's reply before turning on her heel.

As soon as she was alone again, Sakura started to breath again. And once oxygen reached her brain, she suddenly realized what trouble she was in.

* * *

Kakashi finished gutting another fish and shook his head. "I don't know what it could mean," he said. "There's a lot we don't know about them."

Naruto frowned. "But can she really be 80?" 

"Maybe," Kakashi said. "Some people have used chakra to maintain a youthful appearance."

Kakashi fell silent and eyed the door. Sasuke and Naruto followed his lead and returned to their work. A few seconds later, Goro came in followed by two younger men. He nodded to the assembled group but remained silent.

"Is there a problem?" Kakashi asked.

The men behind Goro shifted and finally the older man spoke. "Your mistress has accepted a challenge to her ownership of you."

"What?" Naruto cried out, jumping up.

"Can you explain?" Kakashi asked, attempting to maintain order.

"She was challenged by Hana, one of Moriko's lieutenants," Goro said. "If she didn't accept you would become hers by default. It's a rather old custom but still occasionally practiced."

"Are you kidding?" Naruto cried. "This is crazy!!"

"I have to agree agree," Sasuke said firmly.

"Maybe to ones who have not lived in this society for long," Goro replied. "But…"

"There are no buts!" Naruto yelled. "How can you live like this! Like a pair of sock that get traded around." The two younger men balked a bit but Goro just shook his head.

"It is as it has been for many years," he said. "And who are we to change it?"

"You're people!" Naruto yelled. "You are Goro who likes big meals and sitting outside at night. You shouldn't have to not do them just because someone tells you not to."

"And you're young," Goro said. "And don't understand a lot. Besides this is not about you, this is about your mistress and the danger she's facing fighting Hana."

"Danger?" Kakashi asked.

"There's been talk," Goro said. "They don't trust your mistress and I'm afraid Moriko set this up to eliminate her. Hana is a veteran in battle and more then a match for her."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried, pulling on the older man's sleeve. "We have to help Sakura-chan."

"Can she get out of this challenge?" Kakashi asked calmly.

"As I said, she can forfeit and lose ownership of you."

"Then that's what she'll have to do," Sasuke said.

"I agree," Kakashi replied. "We need to see her."

Goro shook her head. "They're already at the battle site. You can see them from the windows in the main entrance but I don't know if you'll be close enough to talk to them."

"Can you take us there?" Kakashi asked.

Goro shrugged. "Of course." He moved away and the group followed. Kakashi's face showed no signs of worry but his jaw moved slightly beneath mask. Naruto was the most obviously worried of them all, his eyes darting around and resting on his teammates' faces wondering how they could remain so calm.

After several flights of stairs, they arrived at the main entrance. Goro yelled out and the huge crowd that had amassed there parted ways, letting him through. Kakashi looked out of the window as soon as it came to view and found the scene outside almost the same as it was inside.

The crowds had gathered around an unmarked circle. The only sign that there was going to be a fight were the weapons pilled to one side and the long plank that was held up in the air by two trees.

Kakashi didn't see the telltale signs of pink in the crowd already and he almost missed it as it approached on his right. Turning, he felt Naruto and Sasuke's gaze follow as they caught sight of her.

She was still the same Sakura from this morning. Same clothes, same hair, almost an exact duplicate. But there was something different in her eyes, something that was harder and angrier. 

Naruto banged on the window, trying to catch her attention but she never turned to face them. 

"She didn't hear me," Naruto said.

"She did," Kakashi said softly.

Naruto looked at him questioningly, not understanding what he meant. But Sasuke felt the pieces falling into place. Sakura knew they were there so why wouldn't she look this way? Because she knew what they were going to say. Because she knew the danger already. Because she had already made up her mind to go through with it.

Sasuke moved, pushing through the crowd to get to the door. But someone roughly pushed him back.

"Just watch the show," the man said.

"Tetsu, let them through," Goro said, eyeing the other man.

Tetsu laughed a bit. "Just because your mistress is the one in charge now, doesn't mean she always will be old man."

Goro's eyes turned to slits. "Leave Amaya-sama out of this."

Tetsu smiled. "And what do you plan to do about it? As little as your mistress is doing to curb mine? One day you will wake up and Moriko-sama will be in charge and Amaya-sama will be…"

Tetsu had a chance to look surprised before Goro leapt at him, attacking at full force. The battle cry he let out gave Kakashi just enough time to prepare as the entire room erupted into a brawl.

* * *

"Take your positions!" Moriko called out.

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment before she grabbed the ladder and climbed to the top of the platform. As soon as she reached the top she made her way across the log to reach the middle where Moriko and Hana waited.

She wanted to complain about the ridiculousness of having a duel 20 feet above the ground. But it was hard to keep her thoughts straight enough to walk up here. She knew that the pounding at the windows must have been Naruto. But she knew that if she looked over there, her resolve would have broken.

They wouldn't understand anyway. She was Sakura, the one who tagged along. The one who was in the background while they fought the big bad guys. She was always left behind, doing the easier tasks.

Well, this was her fight and she wanted it. Moriko eyed her as she approached, not saying a word but the amusement in her eyes was clearly at Sakura's expense.

"Weapons will now be chosen," Moriko said, holding up a bag. Hana reached forward and pulled out a rock from the back. Moriko looked at it before holding it up for the rest of the crowd to see.

"Battle axe!" Moriko called.

From the ground, there were cheers. Moriko tossed the stone down and a moment later, two women were climbing up the other side, a huge battle axe between them. 

Sakura eyed the weapon with hidden dismay. It was almost as tall as her. If she chose something like that, it would be like having nothing at all! She needed something small and light.

She reached forward and dug her hand around the bag. Her fingers closed around a rock and she pulled it out. She handed it to Moriko and the other woman examined it. A huge smile crossed her face as she held it up for Sakura to see.

It looked like some had painted a snake on the stone. It was thin and coiled and for a moment, Sakura thought it might be a whip or a chain or something.

"ROPE!" Moriko called.

The crowd erupted. Sakura paled. And with all the noise, no one noticed that the slave quarters were being torn apart by a fight.


	4. Chapter 4 : You've got to fight

Chapter 4 

**Author's note : Small glitch a couple of people caught in the last chapter. Yes, I did get my tree names mixed up _ Sorry but thanks for pointing it out.**

* * *

Moriko smiled and tossed Sakura the rope. She was saying something but Sakura couldn't hear her. The crowd was going wild and somehow, Sakura doubted she really wanted to hear what Moriko said. Moriko held up her arms and the crowd simmered down.

"First one to fall loses!" Moriko called. "The fight begins… now!" Moriko leapt backwards, landing gracefully on the ground. Hana had not wasted a moment, charging with a swinging axe.

Sakura's heart stopped as she watched the impending attack. She was going to die, no doubt about it. She couldn't use her substitution technique or make a clone of herself. Everything required chakra and she couldn't use it or she'd break their cover.

Break their cover… She would rather die then break their cover. Sakura had made the choice that countless ninjas had made before her. Their names were engraved on a stone Kakashi had shown them on their first day of training. And Sakura was about to join them.

She had finally done it, become a real ninja and understood that it took more then book knowledge to succeed at a mission. It took patience, a quick mind and understanding that your mission superceded everything else. This wasn't just about keeping the boys from falling into another woman's hands. If she had not accepted the challenge then she would have appeared weak and this society was built on strength. And if she just jumped off the log now, she would be even worse, a coward. There was no choice. She had to fight, even if she died or she would risk her teammates' cover and cause a rift among this tribe and the Hokage. 

Hana came at her just as Sakura came to the conclusion. The axe swung towards her and Sakura flipped backwards. She held onto the rope tightly as she continued to move quickly backwards.

Five back flips later she stopped and righted herself, coming into a low defensive position. Hana was struggling to regain her balance. Of course, inner Sakura cried. The axe is extremely heavy and if she swings it with out hitting anything, the momentum will continue to spin her!

A plan, Sakura realized. She just might have a plan.

* * *

"OFF!" Naruto cried, pushing his feet into the stomach of the man on top of him. He stood up quickly and attempted to locate the rest of his team. But with all the fighting going on, he couldn't see them.

Screw this, Naruto thought as he brought his hands together to start a seal. Someone grabbed his hands before he even made the first sign and Naruto found an angry looking Sasuke in front of him.

"Idiot! Only taijutsu," he snapped. 

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in anger before he remembered the no chakra rule. "Sorry…"

"Forget it," Sasuke replied. "Just help me clear a path to the door."

Naruto took a moment to remember why it was important before he let out a strangled "Sakura-chan!" That's right, Sakura was still outside. Fighting some ogre who wanted to kill her! They had to get outside.

Sasuke was already moving with a progression of hand attacks that were only a flurry of movement in his opponent's eyes before they dropped unconscious to the floor. Naruto frowned. No way was he going to let Sasuke get outside first.

Naruto moved quickly, landing a solid punch on the guy next to him. What he lacked in fluidity, Naruto made up for in brute strength. "HA!" Naruto cried. "One down!"

"Dobe, I've already got two," Sasuke said. He moved quickly and another dropped. "Make that three."

Naruto growled and leapt into the fray, throwing a series of punches. "FOUR!"

"FIVE!" Sasuke called back.

And so it went until finally both of them had reached the doors, out of breath but unscathed, leaving a trail of unconscious men in their path.

"Beat you," Naruto said, holding up ten fingers. Sasuke glared at him, tempted to just show one finger but a hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present.

"As interesting as that was," Kakashi said, "we have a more pressing matter." The two boys nodded and the three of them pushed at the door only to find it was firmly locked in place. 

"It's LOCKED!" Naruto cried, leaning against the door.

"Really? I couldn't tell," Sasuke replied.

"I was just saying that so you would know that we need something to break the door down," Naruto yelled back. "Something hard that won't break."

Kakashi and Sasuke paused and looked at each other. There was a silent agreement and they both grabbed Naruto, holding him like a log.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" The fox child cried.

"On three," Kakashi said. "THREE!"

Naruto's head became a battering ram and slammed into the door. The hinges whined under the pressure.

"Damn!" Sasuke cried. "Your head's gone soft!"

"Awww… look at the pretty ramen bowls…"

"AGAIN!" Kakashi yelled and they moved in unison. With the second hit, the hinges bent and the door cracked. They dropped Naruto on the ground, leaving him to watch his eyes go swirly and pushed on the doors, until it finally fell to the ground with a loud bang.

They barely had enough time to grab Naruto as they ran outside, drawing most of the fight with them. It took a moment but they found Sakura. She was still in the middle of the battle circle, high in the sky atop the log. And she was falling.

* * *

Sakura knelt down and quickly brought the ends of the rope together. Hana had already turned around and regain her balance, looking very annoyed that the first strike had failed. Sakura took the loop at the half way point of the rope and quickly threw it around the log. She took the two ends and threaded them through, standing up to tighten the knot.

"Trying to stay up," Hana smiled. "That's somewhat noble. Won't help you though, when I land this strike."

Hana let out a battle cry and charged. Sakura wrapped the ends of her rope around her wrist. Inner Sakura broke out pom-poms and started cheering, telling Sakura to wait, keep waiting, just a few more seconds until…

Hana pulled back the axe to prepare for the blow, drawing it over her left shoulder.

LEFT! Inner Sakura cried out.

The axe swung and Sakura fell to the left, following the arc of the strike but completely avoid the blow.

"SAKURA!" Someone screamed but Sakura ignored the voice as she felt the rope catch and tighten around her wrist. Now parallel to the ground, she had come to a stop, watching as the axe pulled Hana's view away from her.

NOW!

Sakura gave herself some more slack and pushed off the log. The jump was small, but she managed to clear the log and came hurtling at Hana's side, feet extended. The kick was solid and with the additional pull of the large axe, Hana faltered and fell to the right. Sakura followed, missing the log and falling after her. 

But the rope caught after a few moments of free fall. And while Hana was forced to land on the ground, Sakura swung back up and landed on the log. The crowd had never stopped cheering but Sakura suddenly realized, they were cheering for her.

Tentatively she raised a hand and waved at them, a bit shy about the whole thing. She looked down at ground to make sure Hana had landed alright. She found the other woman looking up at her in surprise.

Then Hana shook her head in disbelief and reached down, taking the axe as she left. Sakura tried to see what Moriko was doing but the other woman had already disappeared. She walked back towards the ladder when she caught sight of a familiar trio of guys.

They held her attention for a moment before she realized what was going on behind them. The crowd, having followed her gaze saw the same thing, broke their circle and ran to quell the fight. Sakura moved quickly too, jumping down to the ground rather then bothering with the ladder. She ran up to her teammates before the crowd overtook them.

"What happened!" Sakura cried.

"Fight broke out in the slave quarters," Naruto said. "But who cares now! Sakura-chan was GREAT!"

"Ah," Sakura said shyly, "thank you."

"Good job, Sakura," Kakashi said, smiling beneath the mask.

"Yeah you even kept going after Sasuke cried out like a little girl!" Naruto laughed.

"Shut up idiot!" Sasuke said, punching him in the arm.

But Naruto was too happy at Sasuke's discomfort. "Sakura! Don't fall! "He mimicked. Sakura looked at Sasuke in disbelief but he never looked back. Instead, he turned on Naruto and began pummeling him.

"Sakura, exactly what happened?" Kakashi said, drawing her attention away from the other two.

Sakura shook her head to clear it. "I don't really know. I was talking to Amaya-sama and then Moriko came and…" Sakura trailed off. Amaya! Where had she been during the fight?

"Sakura, where is Amaya-sama?" Kakashi asked, reading her thoughts.

"I don't know," Sakura replied. "Moriko said one of the farms needed her council. I don't think it was a real story though."

Kakashi frowned. "Some of the men believe that Moriko is trying to take power away from Amaya-sama. If the story wasn't true, then maybe she was going to make her move."

"I'm SO STUPID!" Sakura cried. "I thought Moriko set up this fight to get to me, but don't you see!" The two boys stopped fighting and looked at her. "Neither she and Amaya-sama are here. With the fight going on, no one would notice if they weren't around. Kakashi-sensei we have to find them!"

"We worked the farms this morning, they're outside of town and fairly large" he said, already moving away. "We'll need to split up. Naruto and Sasuke go left, Sakura and I will start from the right."

* * *

"Hang on!" Naruto cried, watching as Sasuke bolted through the fields, tearing up the plants before he dove into a patch of tall stalks and disappeared. Naruto came to a stop and looked around. Letting out a curse, he attempted to jump up to see over the plants to try to see Sasuke. There was movement ahead and the leaves shifted towards him.

"Stupid Sasuke," Naruto said as someone emerged as from the field. But it wasn't Sasuke. Naruto's eyes opened wide as a female stumbled out and looked at him in fear.

"AH! Leave me alone!" she cried in a rather deep voice.

"What?" Naruto asked, watching as the woman tried to get away.

"No, just go away!" the girl cried. "GET AWAY!"

Naruto was completely confused. He had never seen this girl in his life and she was trying to avoid him like the plague.

"Just hold on!" Naruto cried, reaching for her arm. But she turned away and his hand landed somewhere else. Suddenly they both screamed.

* * *

Sasuke had gone off ahead, not particularly happy with Naruto at the moment. As if beating him in the slave quarters wasn't bad enough, did he have to rub in the fact that he gotten a bit worried when Sakura tumbled towards the ground? So what? They were all worried. 

As he muttered to himself, he paused and looked back wondering why Naruto had been so quiet. Finding only green stalks behind him, Sasuke grumbled and started to walk back, figuring Naruto had gotten lost.

Suddenly two screams pierced the air, one the familiar Naruto cry of surprise. Sasuke took off, following the noise until he reached the clearing where Naruto was standing pale white, over a fallen girl.

"You JERK!" she cried. "You don't grab a girl there."

Sasuke can to a quick halt and stared at the girl clutching her chest and Naruto looking like a sheet. Sasuke shook his head and continued on his way towards Naruto. 

"Oi, Naruto," Sasuke said, reaching the boy. "Apologize."

"But… it just… burst…"

"What?" Sasuke demanded.

"It just exploded in my hand," Naruto said.

Sasuke looked quickly at the girl on the ground and saw that she was indeed flatter on one side of her chest. He walked forward and noticed that most of her shirt was wet too. And finally, he got a good look at her face.

Reaching forward, he grabbed her hair and pulled. She screamed in protest but a minute later, Sasuke had the wig in one hand and had grabbed her, or rather his, wrist with the other.

"You!" Sasuke said. "You're Matsui Ichiro."

* * *

Sakura and Kakashi moved quickly, both attempting to find some sign that the two women were somewhere nearby. Suddenly Kakashi pulled Sakura to a halt and pushed her beneath the foliage.

"You are too young!"

"You just say that because you don't want to give up leadership!"

Sakura frowned, the second voice was definitely Moriko and she didn't sound happy at all. Sakura held her spot and kept track of the conversation, which didn't prove too hard since both girls were yelling.

"I have never attempted to keep control from you," Amaya yelled. "I let you implement changes despite knowing that they wouldn't work."

"I only did that because you are too soft! You've let the men grow lazy. And worse, you let unknown people get close to you without considering that they might be lying to you," Moriko shot back.

Sakura shrank, knowing they were talking about her.

"I have more faith in people then you do," Amaya replied. "I'm sorry that you had to face the battles you did, but just because people betrayed you in a fight doesn't mean that they will do it in every aspect of your life. I have tried to teach this to you but you refuse to see it. And until you do, you will not be ready to be leader."

"You? Teach me? You haven't had time for me in years!" Moriko cried. "Look what I had to do just to get a few minutes of your precious time. And there's always someone else that you seem to want in power rather then me."

"Maybe I don't want you to be in power," Amaya yelled back. "Look at ME! Do you think I want you… to go through… this? My only daughter?"

Sakura and Kakashi both balked. Daughter? Sakura thought. That just wasn't possible!

"Amaya-sama?" Moriko asked suddenly. Sakura looked at Kakashi and he nodded. He had heard the way Amaya's words stuck in her throat and then the panic in Moriko's voice. Sakura got up quickly and ran towards them, seeing Moriko bending over Amaya's fallen form.

"What did you do?" Sakura cried as came near them.

Moriko looked up and for the first time, Sakura saw something in her eyes other then anger. Moriko was afraid.

"Nothing," Moriko cried. "I didn't do anything! She was just talking to me and then collapsed"

Sakura kneeled down next to Amaya and put a hand to girl's forehead. It wasn't warm so it couldn't be a fever that had overtaken her. Sakura continued to look for some sign of what would have caused Amaya to look as if she had fallen asleep.

Suddenly Amaya's eyes were wide open. "It's coming," she said softly.

"What's…"

Sakura didn't even have time to finish the question. The ground beneath her suddenly began to rattle as an earthquake enveloped the entire town. The ground shook so violently that it cracked in several place. Kakashi emerged from his hiding spot and moved towards them, fighting to keep his balance. One of the farmhouses collapsed just as the shuddering slowly came to a stop.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"An earthquake," Moriko said, quickly picking up Amaya. "We need to get back to the town center." 

Sakura nodded quietly, falling into pace behind Moriko. She saw Amaya's head as it lay over Moriko's arm. Slowly, the hair started to thin and turn white. Amaya's skin turned wrinkled and spotted with liver spots. In a moment, Amaya had turned from a child to an old lady.


	5. Chapter 5 : The end is the end

Chapter 5 

All that was left was a pile of rubble. People scattered about working desperately to free the owners of the wailing voices inside. For the first time since she had arrived, Sakura saw the two sexes mixed and working together.

"Moriko!" Hana yelled as soon as they were in sight. "Amaya-sama…" She added softly seeing the aged leader in her hands.

"We need to get the building debris clear," Moriko said, kneeling to the ground and letting Amaya's head rest on her lap. "Start from the top. If you keep working at the sides, there's libel to be another collapse." Hana nodded.

"All this, just from an earthquake," Sakura said softly, looking at the damage.

Something in the air changed and Moriko looked over at her. "This isn't just an earthquake," she said softly. "And if you were really one of us, you would know that."

Sakura felt Kakashi shift behind her, a classic sign that he was examining the situation and looking for several ways out of a bad situation. She had to think fast too. With Amaya not there to protect her, Moriko could move forward on her suspicions and…

"I don't care where you're from," Moriko said sudden sadness. "If you were her to assassinate Amaya-sama, you're too late."

Sakura looked back at Kakashi and nodded firmly. He was just going to follow along with her new plan. Obviously, they couldn't keep the original cover up but at the same time, they couldn't attach themselves to Leaf.

"We were just sent to watch your tribe," Sakura said. "The village over the mountains wanted to know how easy it would be to take control of this region."

Moriko snorted. "I should have known. You're not the first they've sent over. But your timing couldn't be worse. Our leader is dying."

"I don't understand," Sakura said. "She was just a child…"

"No, she used a jutsu to cover up her true age," Moriko replied. "Not that someone who is only forty would normally look like this but the strain… it ages our leaders quick." Sakura watched as Moriko put a hand on Amaya's forehead. "If only she had let me take over, she would have had more time."

Sakura watched the interaction, allowing several things to come into place. Amaya was Moriko's mother and only forty years old. Though without the effects of the jutsu, her body looked like it was only twice as old! And now, according to Moriko, she was dying. The strain was killing her.

Sakura looked around, watching the tribe continue to work with the effects of the earthquake.

_"This isn't just an earthquake."_

Sakura's eyes blinked as she found her answer. The chakra they use to manipulate their environment… it's not a one time thing! They have to maintain it by using a leader and her chakra control to do it. It puts strain on the body, and of course, it ages them. That's how they did it! And that's why… 

"Amaya-sama's dying caused this," Sakura said softly. "She can't hold the changes to the environment together so things are attempting to shift back to what they were."

Moriko nodded and stood up. "It's true." Any trace of sadness disappeared from her eyes. It was as if she had suddenly returned to her normal state and realized that she had just told them everything. "Which is why your being here is just really bad timing… at least for you."

Sakura didn't even have a chance to blink when the flash of steel came down at her. There was a loud crash and she was blinded by the flash of light that reflect off of Amaya's dagger. But much to her surprise, Sakura was unhurt. It took her moment before she realized Amaya's blade had been caught by a kunai. Kakashi's eyes never moved as he pushed the woman back and regripped his weapon.

"Sakura-chan," he stated, watching as Moriko's subordinates started to gather. "Go find the others and leave. I'll catch up later, you're in charge until then."

"But… Kakashi-sensei..."

"Don't question sensei," he smiled and turned back just as Moriko started to gain troops. Sakura waited a beat longer before quickly running away from the crowd. Kakashi eyed the women coming towards him and let his smile grow.

Under normal circumstances, the idea of about five women charging him at once would have been a dream come true. But these women were highly skilled and looking to kill him. Worse, he couldn't use any Jutsu or else he'd reveal his role as a ninja.

"Well ladies," he smiled, "I don't suppose we could talk this out over a cup of co…" A spear landed to his right with a heavy thud. "Thought so."

* * *

Sakura ran, barely hearing the battle cries Kakashi's attacker let out. Please be okay, sensei, she managed to think before returning to the task at hand. 

Trying to find her teammates in the confusion should have proved more difficult. But it was very hard to miss Sasuke attempting to drag a half conscious Naruto and a screaming girl towards the center of town.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out.

He looked up and caught her eye. He quickly dropped Naruto to the ground and put his energy into restraining the cursing girl. Sakura watched as she came closer, completely unaware of why he was close to tackling a stranger.

"Let GO you son of a…"

"Woah," Sakura said, coming to a halt. "That's not a girl."

"No shit," Sasuke said through gripped teeth. 

"I won't do it! I won't be a slave to you people!" 

"Is that…" Sakura started.

"Yeah, it's Matsui-sama," Sasuke replied. 

"Matsui-sama, please calm down," Sakura said. "We were sent to rescue you."

For a moment, Matsui calmed down and Sasuke used the chance to pin him to the ground. 

"You were?" he said softly, attempting not to breath into too much dirt.

"Yes," Sakura said quickly. "Your family hired us to retrieve you. Didn't Sasuke-kun or Naruto explain that?"

"How could he?" Sasuke said, pointing to the huddled mass on the ground. 

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, seeing his condition. "Are you all right?"

"It… just burst," Naruto managed to get out.

"NA-RU-TO!" Sakura yelled, shaking him rapidly.

"Sa…Sakura-chan?" he said softly coming out his daze. He looked at her and then at her chest. Then without warning his hand snapped forward and he landed a hand where it shouldn't have gone.

A moment later he was a pile in the dirt courtesy of a very horrified and angry Sakura and a rather annoyed Sasuke. "It didn't burst…" he managed before drifting off into the dark again.

Sakura glared for several seconds longer as Inner Sakura let out of a stream of obscenities. "Sasuke-kun, can you please drag Naruto? We need to get out of here, Kakashi-sensei's orders."

Sasuke frowned before reaching down and pulling Naruto up by the collar. "Come on, dead last."

"Matsui-sama," Sakura started. "Please follow them."

"Aa…" the cross dressed young man nodded.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura looked at him briefly. "I need to set some traps to cover our escape." 

"Aa," he nodded before leading the other two away.

Sakura didn't really lie outright. She carefully set a few traps but rather then following her teammates, she ran back towards the center of town.

A pile of women lay around him and Kakashi was finally able to concentrate solely Moriko. He didn't appear to have hurt any of them too badly and from the looks of it, he was working hard to keep them alive. Unfortunately the same was not true for Moriko.

A glint to the left forced Kakashi and Sakura's heads to turn towards an outcropping. Sakura saw the archer just as Kakashi realized he shouldn't take his eyes off of Moriko. Sakura didn't bother to wait for Kakashi to react but threw a kunai just as the woman let loose an arrow, knocking it off its target. The woman was already preparing another strike when a voice cut through the air.

"Stop this!"

The fighting came to an abrupt halt as Amaya slowly stood from the ground. Moriko pushed herself away from Kakashi and ran towards the ailing woman.

"Amaya-sama," she said. "Please stay seated, you can't exert any more…"

"It's over," Amaya said softly. "Mori-chan… please…"

Moriko's eyes opened wide and she started to shake her head in vehement opposition to whatever Amaya wanted to say. Kakashi ran over a grabbed Sakura's arm.

"We need to leave now," he said, starting to walk away.

"Wait," Sakura cried, trying to see what was happening. Kakashi tried to pull her away but she wouldn't move.

Amaya reached out a hand and placed it on Moriko's cheek. "This is my end," she said softly. "And your beginning."

The crowd had quieted down, watching slowly as there leader faded away. "I wanted to keep you from this," Amaya whispered, "but in doing so, I think I have made it worse. Be kinder, Moriko, and happier. We don't have enough time to be anything else."

Amaya reached up and placed her hand on her daughter's chest. Moriko's eyes started to water and Sakura squinted as a light filled the area. When she was finally able to see, Amaya had disappeared.

* * *

Sasuke frowned at the fire, watching it start to dwindle down. The nobleman was huddled next to it and Naruto was off looking for wood. Though what could take him this long to find a few twigs was beyond him.

Someone approached and Sasuke reached for a kunai before relaxing as a familiar chakra became clear.

"Stupid river," Naruto said, shaking out a wet foot before dumping more wood on the fire. 

Sasuke shook his head. "Only you would mess up a simple assignment like finding wood."

"I didn't mess it up!" Naruto retorted. "I just missed part of a brook, okay?"

"Whatever," Sasuke replied, obviously not referring to the brook incident anymore.

"I already said I was sorry for before!" Naruto continued. "How was I supposed to know they were water balloons and not really ones? Besides, who runs around dressed like a woman for weeks on end?"

"Someone who doesn't want to be a slave for the rest of his life," Matsui replied glumly.

"What happened to you anyway?" Naruto asked.

Matsui sighed. "Well, I was reading this interesting report about this tribe of women and I got… curious…"

"Curious?"

"Yes," Matsui said. "I suppose it would have helped if I read on to see that the men were slaves but at the time my only thought was there was a town of women somewhere attempting to run everything. How couldn't they resist my charms once I promised to help them? I am, after all the son of daimyo, running a simple village should have been fairly easy."

Naruto snorted. "Guess it wasn't as easy as it looked." Matsui awarded him with a glare.

"Just because you have the charms of a wart hog…" Matsui began. Sasuke snickered before he even finished.

Naruto frowned looking at his teammate. "Yeah, I forgot that you were God's gift to women," Naruto said sarcastically. Sasuke looked at him with a raised eyebrow as if he had stated something obvious.

"Good evening, I see we're guarding ourselves well this night."

Sasuke and Naruto jumped, reaching for weapons but Kakashi had already emerged from the shadows looking disappointed. A weary looking Sakura was behind him, trudging slowly before collapsing in front of the fire.

"You got out," Naruto said. "We were wondering what happened."

"Things didn't go as planned," Kakashi said. "But we managed to leave without too much of a fight." He looked down at Sakura and frowned a moment before heading towards the nobleman. "So this is Matsui-sama then."

Matsui nodded slightly, not bothering to rise. 

"We apologize for the poor accommodations but we will get you home by tomorrow evening."

Somewhat awed by the tall silver haired ninja, Matsui bit back a retort and just nodded. He pulled out a blanket and curled up near the fire. A few moments later, he was snoring quietly, leaving the three ninjas alone in silence.

"Ne, Sakura-chan? Are you okay?" Naruto asked.

Sakura blinked before looking up at him. "Huh?"

"You're just real quiet," he added. Next to him, Sasuke looked on, hoping for an explanation as well.

Sakura took a moment before shaking her head. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just thinking about things."

"Huh?" It was Naruto's turn to be confused.

Sakura sighed. "Hokage-sama wanted me to lead the trip because he thought I knew everything about the Onnaribisu that would be needed. And I thought that I did too. I mean, I've read everything there was on them and got most of the details right only now…" She frowned. "I don't think I know anything about them at all." 

Sakura paused and looked in the fire as Kakashi moved forward and passed out what was left of their rations. 

"But without you," Naruto started, "we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did, ne? So Sakura-chan did know enough."

Sakura smiled. "Thanks Naruto," she replied, concentrating on her food.

"That's good to hear Naruto," Kakashi said. "Especially after you were so upset that Sakura was put in charge at the beginning of this mission."

Naruto stopped eating and looked up at his sensei with terror on his face. 

"So," Sakura said, dropping the cup of tea she was working on. "You didn't think I'd be able to do this?"

"Ah… Sakura-chan… I didn't mean it like…"

Having bought himself enough time, Naruto bolted with an irate Sakura following him. Sasuke sighed as the two disappeared into the woods.

"So… we learned nothing then," Sasuke asked his sensei.

"Enough," Kakashi replied. "At least enough for Sakura to write down so that the next group will fare better then we did. And we completed our mission. There's not much more that was needed."

"I guess it would have been good to learn how they used chakra to manipulate the land," Sasuke added. "I think I… HEY!"

Naruto stumbled over him and ended up knocking Sasuke off his seat. Sakura was standing behind them, looking at Kakashi, having overheard the last thing Sasuke said. 

"It wouldn't matter, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "It obviously was only meant to be used by women, chosen women who were dedicated to a cause that I don't think we'll understand."

"Sort of like how Sakura's dedicated to Sasuke ne?" Naruto smiled.

A loud boom echoed in the forest and Naruto once again was asleep on the ground. Matsui was still snoring away as the rest of them decided to turn in. Sakura pulled her blanket out and finally managed to quell the raging maniac inside her head.

"Ne, Sakura."

Sakura paused and looked over at Sasuke. He wasn't looking at her, just laying on her side.

"You did do well," he stated.

Sakura blinked and then smile. Inside, Inner Sakura had woken up again and was not going to sleep anytime soon. But outside, Sakura just nodded. "Thanks," she said before pulling the blanket over her head to prevent the blush.

~ Fin ~

_**Author's note : Grrrrr… I hate taking long to finish a story and then not being satisfied completely with the ending but… that's it. Thanks for reading and hope you come back for the next one I write.**_


End file.
